Neurological Assessment Flashcards
What are the goals of clinical NP assessment ?
Assess level of cognitive functioning, to identify dysfunction and localise it (dissociation)
Provide an objective measure
Provide information for the rehabilitative progress
Be sensitive to mild impairments which may otherwise be missed (e.g. traumatic brain injury)
Provide corroborating evidence of abnormality where imaging would fail to identify structural abnormalities (e.g. epilepsy)
Determine efficacy of treatments
Provide patient and family with understanding of condition
Assess for mood disorders
What are methods of clinicial assessment?
- Pen and Paper
- Standarised compuerised tests
- Test batteries
What are Test batteries?
Collections of tests assessing differetn cognitive functions
What are results from test batteries compared with to assess deficits?
Normative samples
What is the hierarchy to cognitive functions?
Sensation and perception -> Visuospaital processing -> Executive function -> Attention -> Memory -> Psychomotor speed -> Language skills
What is attention?
Selective processing of certain stimuli
How can attention be assessed?
Trail making - sselective attention - join the dots in ascending order of th enumbers as quickly as possible
Why some test batteries vary?
Some require more theroital expertise and more qualititive while others do not require much knowledge to administer
What are the characteristics of an ideal test battery?
- Capture the spectrum of different cognitive functions and separate them
- Good psychometric properties (E.g Reliability, Validity, Sensitivity)
- Translational
- Large normative database
- Verified
What is translational meaning in ideal test batteries?
Directly related to neural cirucitry and neurochemical systems
What is the CANTAB?
Computerised suite of neuropsychological tests examining a range of cognitive functions
What are the limits of the standardised approach to NP assessment?
- New constructs are made
- Long process to collect norms
- Norm may not be applicable to patient
What are the goals of cognitive NP assessment?
- Aim to advance therory on neural underpinning of pscyhological functions
- Associations and dissociations between different psychological functions
- Same as clinical assessent
- Experimental
What is experimental in congitive NP assessment?
Focussed on research question or topic (e.g people presenting with a paritcular cognitive impariment)
What is an example of a test battery with a large sample?
Luria- Nebraska Battery (Golden, 1981)
What is the Emotion recongition task in THE CANTAB?
- Series of faces shown
- Particiapnts identify expression of face from 6 basic emotions (e.g happiness, anger, disgust, fear, sadness)
What is the limitation of the Emtoion recognition task?
The only social cognition test in CANTAB
Types of assessment
- Clinical
- Cognitive
Wht are clinical assements?
- For patient use
- Assessment after brain injury/neuro disorder
- In a healthcare setting
- Clinican administered
What are congitive assessment?
- For advancing theory/developing treatments
- More focussed assesssment of cognitive function after injury/disease
- Research setting
- Concerned with a specfic function, locus of damage or research question
What are the goals of clinical NP assessment?
Assess level of cognitive functioning, to identify dysfunction and localise it (dissociation)
Provide an objective measure
Provide information for the rehabilitative progress
Be sensitive to mild impairments which may otherwise be missed (e.g. traumatic brain injury)
Provide corroborating evidence of abnormality where imaging would fail to identify structural abnormalities (e.g. epilepsy)
Determine efficacy of treatments
Provide patient and family with understanding of condition
Assess for mood disorders
What is malingering?
The intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms, motivated by external incentives such as avoiding work, obtaining financial compensation, evading criminal prosecution, or obtaining drugs
What is malingering in neuropsychology?
Exaggerating deficits in performance on cognitive tests
What is used for object recongition?
Birmingham Object Recognition Battery (BORB)
What battery is used for face perception of age and gender?
Philadephia face perception battery
What is the Cambridge face perception test?
- Sorting images in order of the similiartity to the face at the top, with the most similar on the left and least similar on the right
What is the Cambridge face memory test?
Leearning a series of faces and asking to choose which out of the faces they seen before
What impairments did patient EM have?
- Emotional expressions
- Face perception
- Face memory
What did not get damaged in patient EM?
- IQ
- Memory
- Objects
- Age
- Gendr
What is the meaning behind Bruce and Young’s model of face processing?
- Deficints in the structure encoding stage will also influence the memory stage
- If it cant be precieved then it cant be remembered
What was conlcuded from the 14 week online training progamme for patient EM?
Face perception can be improved but further stdies needed to know how it can be applied in different subtypes/ages etc
